The fact that the Wasp has been pulled along with artwork is a bad omen for future releases of classics. I hope CGL didn't invest a ton of resources into a box set of plastic minis that are now unable to be released. CGL should've allowed IWM to produce minis earlier...

Can we not elevate to DEFCON-1 just yet? The artwork has not been pulled from the MUL (the Marauder is still there, for instance, and NKestrel in another thread has explicitly confirmed that no pull order has come from CGL requesting the artwork be taken off -- the reason that the Wasp and others haven't been added yet according to the thread is it isn't as highly prioritized as other work on the site) and it looks like the other Classics that IWM has been authorized to sell (the Ostscout and Shadow Hawk) are still available for sale on the IWM site. This *may* be indicative of HG pouncing on the VF-1-derived 'mechs, but it could be something as simple as a contract SNAFU between CGL, Topps and IWM putting the releases on hold for the moment.

I'm not clamoring for DEFCON 5, just pointing out an alarming connection with the Wasp and expressing my frustration with CGL's lack of transparency and decisions not to let IWM produce the miniatures despite major interest....

"Thanks to Megamek, I can finally play BattleTech the way it was meant to be played--pantsless!" -Neko Bijin"It's just that the Hegemony had one answer to every naval problem. 'I kills it with my battleships.'" - Liam's Ghost"...finally, giant space panties don't seem so strange." - Whistler"The BT universe is startlingly deficient in both wisdom and hindsight." - Cray"Damn you, Weirdo... Damn you for being right!" - PaulBattleforce Space is too bulky. I vote we start calling it BattleFace.

I stopped by IWM late last week to pick up an order, which included a new Wasp. Their place was not being picked over by evil HG flying lawyer-monkeys, and Office Wench's hair was not on fire. I figure that means whatever is going on isn't as dire as you might imagine. More likely it is some sort of run-of-the-mill production snafu. Maybe one of the molds tore out unexpectedly, or maybe they sold out of the stock they had and don't have the time in the production schedule to crank a bunch more out at the moment. Or maybe Speck jumped the gun, and there was supposed to be another week or two of distributor-only sales?

Just calm down a little bit. I agree it's annoying to have to wait so long for the lovely new art to appear in mini form, and for the Wasp to get pulled at the moment, but I wouldn't break out the tinfoil underpants just yet...I like to save those for special occasions.

Now that I've seen the new Wasp, I certainly want to order more. The weapon sprue appears to have optional loadouts for the 1K and 1D along with the 1A - nifty! (and I'm confident the new Valk will be just as nice).

A few things.... Being that the Marauder is still on the MUL as well as the cover of CO, I do think the Wasp and Valkyrie are victims of a tragic farming accident. But.. for all you conspiracy theorists...

Worst Case - HG decided that the Wasp and Valkyrie still look too much like their RT counterparts. If this IS the case then the artwork for both should also have been removed from the PDF/Print copies of the books they have been seen in. While the Wasp image isn't on the MUL that does not indicate anything. Removal of classic art from the released books is where the proof will be. As the Catalyst store does not have my BC orders containing 1st SW, CM:Mercs, or nearly anything else from last year I cannot download a new copy of any of those books. Someone will need to download a new copy to verify.

Next Worst Case - Tragic farming accident. Somewhere in the production room someone slipped on a banana peel and broke both molds. Some type of production accident is most likely unless the best case comes up (below).

Next Next Worse case OR Worst Worst case (your call) - The wonderful staff and IWM all suddenly got sick/fired/won some vacation/quit/died/(insert some other snafu here). This may also be likely, at least in the case of the staff all getting sick (passing the flu back and forth or some such).

Middle Case - Likely, but kinda dumb. Production holdups. Huge orders came in for other minis so most everything else is on hold for awhile.

Best Case (Wasp) - Someone got a wild hair up their rump and decided to redo the mold so the Wasp (and hence the Valkyrie and Stinger) wont look so beefy and more closely match the new art.

Best Best Case - Someone got a wild hair up their rump and decided to redo the mold to include a second SRM pack so that they can include the 1L variant in the pack. This became a higher priority than pushing the Valkyrie.

Best Best Best Case Scenario - IWM have been given "weapons free" status on all the new Classic battlemechs designs. IWM are frantically running the mold and the production rooms 24/7 trying to stockpile enough Classic Warhammers, Classic Marauders, Classic Thunderbolts, Classic Rifleman, Classic Wolverines and Classic Valkyries to meet the anticipated demand at Gencon. There are no production slots available to produce extra Classic Wasps to meet the demand so IWM have reserved all stocks of the Classic Wasp-1A for BV Traders to sell at the IWM Origins and Gencon booths. So the Classic Wasp has been quietly removed from the IWM webstore as a result

Disclaimer - while I retail IWM miniatures, I have absolutely no inside knowledge so this is pure speculation from an un-informed person who lives on the other side of the planet from the IWM workshop.

Logged

Incoming fire has the right of way.

The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

There could be some truth to that, at least for the Wasp and Valkyrie. Or perhaps the other Q2 releases as they might have been lagging behind on the production schedule and needed a higher production time.

Next Worst Case - Tragic farming accident. Somewhere in the production room someone slipped on a banana peel and broke both molds. Some type of production accident is most likely unless the best case comes up (below).

Best Best Case - Someone got a wild hair up their rump and decided to redo the mold to include a second SRM pack so that they can include the 1L variant in the pack. This became a higher priority than pushing the Valkyrie.

Releasing a new mini will always take priority over increasing the production costs of an already released mini. Having extra variants is great - that's why they're in there to begin with - but for a fourth variant, making the weapon sprue available for purchase separately would be the logical route.

Just trying to keep discussion close to reality. No point getting lost or worked up over speculation. I know this is the internet, and someone will go way too far anyway, but at least I've tried.

Worst Case - HG decided that the Wasp and Valkyrie still look too much like their RT counterparts. If this IS the case then the artwork for both should also have been removed from the PDF/Print copies of the books they have been seen in. While the Wasp image isn't on the MUL that does not indicate anything. Removal of classic art from the released books is where the proof will be. As the Catalyst store does not have my BC orders containing 1st SW, CM:Mercs, or nearly anything else from last year I cannot download a new copy of any of those books. Someone will need to download a new copy to verify.

I highly doubt it, as that would have affected the production schedule of 2SW, forcing a delay or outright shelving as they'd have to scramble to redo a lot of the artwork, including the cover.

Unless 2SW contains the P Hawk or Stinger I see no reason why it would get held up. I don't recall either the Wasp or Valkyrie on the cover of 2SW when they showed both of them off. The Marauder and Warhammer have the same profile as the RT mecha but has a completely different look. The Archer as well, though I don't remember if they showed off the P Hawk or not which leaves the Rifleman and Longbow as well as the Stinger and Crusader.

As I said though, the proof would be in the current 1SW PDF. It would take no more than 30 minutes to remove the Wasp/Valkyrie art from said book. There is no reason these two would hold up any of the other images or any future books.

Or something else entirely, that we are not privy to since we are not actually employees of IWM or CGL.

I know jumping to conclusions is this forum's stock in trade, but that doesn't mean it's called for here.

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"Thanks to Megamek, I can finally play BattleTech the way it was meant to be played--pantsless!" -Neko Bijin"It's just that the Hegemony had one answer to every naval problem. 'I kills it with my battleships.'" - Liam's Ghost"...finally, giant space panties don't seem so strange." - Whistler"The BT universe is startlingly deficient in both wisdom and hindsight." - Cray"Damn you, Weirdo... Damn you for being right!" - PaulBattleforce Space is too bulky. I vote we start calling it BattleFace.

good thing I came here to actually find out what is going on than listening to all the whining and bitching from the battletech international group on facebook. God those guys just say everything about CGL and IWM in a negative way that they should just stick to MWO and not play the board game itself

good thing I came here to actually find out what is going on than listening to all the whining and bitching from the battletech international group on facebook. God those guys just say everything about CGL and IWM in a negative way that they should just stick to MWO and not play the board game itself

[applause] [applause]

Here! Here!

And I thought I was the only one that noticed that. Some people there are so negative about the game, I don't see why they play at all.

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To me, Repros are 100% Wrong, and there's NO room for me to give ground on this subject. I'm not just an Immovable Object on this, I'm THE Immovable Object.

Well the only we do know so far is that the Valkyrie has no mold, so that is a big issue holding that particular mini up. Would be nice if Speck could give us SOMETHING. Better to have a little than have nothing and run around screaming "the sky is falling the sky is falling!!"

Besides, doesn't look like anyone wants to check the 1st SW book to see if the art is still in the PDF. Does that mean that gossip is more enjoyable with no proof???

Would be nice if Speck could give us SOMETHING. Better to have a little than have nothing and run around screaming "the sky is falling the sky is falling!!"

speck is giving us something, he is trying to give us a fan funded Hellspawn HSN-7D Resculpt. We are currently US$25 short of the US$800 to fully fund Stinger to work on resculpting the Hellspawn. So instead of run around screaming "the sky is falling the sky is falling!!", we can help bring a new miniature to life O0

Logged

Incoming fire has the right of way.

The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

Well the only we do know so far is that the Valkyrie has no mold, so that is a big issue holding that particular mini up. Would be nice if Speck could give us SOMETHING. Better to have a little than have nothing and run around screaming "the sky is falling the sky is falling!!"

Besides, doesn't look like anyone wants to check the 1st SW book to see if the art is still in the PDF. Does that mean that gossip is more enjoyable with no proof???

[face palm] Oh my. Calm down. Everything will be 'A' okay... Speck is an excellent guy. Please, give him some respect (for all he continues to do for us).